Rules grow for fishing Regulations for bait dealers more complex

June 24, 2007

Outdoors Who would ever have thought that fishing with livebait in Michigan could become so complex. It will be, beginning Thursday, especially for bait dealers who sell certain types of minnows and the anglers who use them. That's because the Michigan Department of Natural Resources decided that the best way to stem the spread of Viral Hemorrhagic Septicemia (VHS)is to restrict movement of some species of bait. The list includes emerald shiners and white suckers, baits that are commonly sold in this area. Other notable baits are spot-tail shiners, bluntnose minnows, and Pacific herring (frozen for cut bait). Those species are said to be potential carriers of VHS, a deadly virus found in the Great Lakes and recently, in Budd Lake in eastern Michigan. The good news is that fathead minnows and golden shiners, two other baits that are popular here, aren't on the list. Yet. Bait sold by Michiana businesses comes from certified suppliers, so the disease isn't likely to spread here. However, Michigan wants to make sure, which is why you're now required to carry receipts that indicate bait on the prohibitive list in your possession came from a certified supplier. If you don't -- and a conservation officer stops by and asks for it -- you'll be cited just like you would if you're caught fishing without a license. Michigan retailers, meanwhile, are required to provide receipts that tell anglers where the bait was taken, the lot of transaction code and where it can be used. It gets better. If you're legally fishing with one of the baitfish on the list, you can't use it in two different lakes. The law requires that you kill those minnows and re-purchase new ones for fishing elsewhere. Don't think you can skirt the law by buying shiners in Indiana for use in Michigan. Transporting restricted minnows across state lines, certified or not, became a federal violation last fall. Same goes if you buy those baits in Michigan for fishing in Indiana. Also, anglers who net their own minnows are required to use them only in the same lake/river from which they caught them. I'm not sure how that -- or any of the new laws -- gets policed, but that is basically how the law is written. Livebait anglers aren't the only ones who face penalties. Boat anglers are required to drain livewells and bilge areas before leaving a lake on which they were used. Get caught doing it elsewhere and you face a fine. That's not as big of deal and is something that most people do anyway. "These new regulations aren't here for only VHS, but other diseases that may come along," said Gary Whelan of the Michigan DNR. "We're doing all we can to prevent the spread of these diseases that threaten our fisheries." Similar laws aren't on the table in Indiana, but that could change if the disease shows up here. "We know that bait is the way this disease will get moved around," said Stu Shipman, Indiana DNR norther fisheries supervisor. Michigan is being more aggressive because the risk is higher there. They have more lakes and are surrounded by Great Lakes." Shipman said the issue is being studied by Indiana Board of Animal Health, the lead agency on VHS, and that an announcement may be coming shortly. "All agencies are trying to figure out how to manage this thing," Shipman said. "The only practical way is for people to stop using bait, but we don't want to do that unless we have to." If agencies continue to pile on complex regulations, it will be a moot point. A lot of folks may stop fishing -- and buying licenses. Louie Stout Commentary